Search Others for Their Virtues
by SaiyanLover
Summary: This is a very short story I wrote using Kenshin as my inspiration. It's interesting, although not entirely based upon the anime. Please read it will take you only 5 lousy minutes!


Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.  
  
Once in nineteenth century Japan, there lived a man. Not just any man. A deadly, brutal, and cruel man. An assassin. A killer. A murderer. A manslayer.  
  
He was a samurai, a master of the sword. None had ever been able to defeat him. Not that anyone had ever been brave enough to try.  
  
He killed many political leaders, as well as military officers, and sometimes even seemingly random villagers. There was no pattern to who he killed or when. The only thing all his victims had in common was that he left an X across the skin above their heart.  
  
No one knew his true identity, for no one had ever seen the man's face and lived. This man, however, was really not even a man at all.  
  
He was eighteen years old, with short black hair and hauntingly blue eyes. His name was Shinri, which means "state of mind". No one ever suspected him of being the killer, who had commonly become referred to as Hitori Zutsu (one by one) because of his habit of killing people one by one.  
  
Shinri was merely a wandering swordsman- kind and friendly. The few people that had grown intimately close to him never even knew his true identity. So life went on for Shinri and Hitori Zutsu as they lived side by side.  
  
On a cool autumn evening, Shinri stood looking down at the village where his next target lay. He smiled, pleased with himself. He stood motionless until the sun hit the horizon.  
  
He then placed down his bags and drew his sword, taking the few minutes before dusk to practice his already perfect skills. His sword cut through the air without a sound, his movements were quick and precise, and his feet were constantly moving, never making himself an easy target.  
  
He continued to practice until he felt the slight stream of sweat on his back turn cold, and the sun disappeared behind the hills in the distance.  
  
He started to put his sword away, but noticed something. A smell on the wind, a tingling of his senses. His head whipped around to the trees behind him, and he heard a rustling movement of someone trying to escape.  
  
He narrowed his eyes and within seconds had snuck up directly in behind their hiding spot, leaving them nowhere to go but to him, or out into the open as an easy target.  
  
A noise, something between a whimper and a gasp came from the small space beneath the leaves.  
  
"Come out and face your death like a man, or run and die like a coward," Hitori Zutsu said icily. A figure slowly rose out of the bush, obviously not attempting to run away. Hitori Zutsu's eyes widened, but caught himself in time before he let any other shock show on his face.  
  
Standing before him was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. Her long black hair was so dark it looked purple, and her eyes were a deep forest green. Her skin was tan, like that of someone who spent much of their time outside. She was average height, with a thin, but shapely, body.  
  
"You're going to kill me now, aren't you?" She asked in a frightened, but strong voice. She looked at him with fear, but also with loathing, for she now knew who he was. He stood for a moment, considering.  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You were spying on me. That's not a very virtuous thing to do." He said, smiling. She glared at him.  
  
"And I suppose killing people is?"  
  
"For the right reasons, yes it is." He said. She shook her head.  
  
"I pity you." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I pity you, because you will never know what it's like to be happy.  
  
You will never know what peace is.  
  
You will never be able to laugh from your soul.  
  
You will never be able to smile from your heart.  
  
You will always be to busy killing other people for some sin they have committed, while never realizing that your sins are so much greater than theirs." He felt those words deeply, for some reason they struck his heart in a painful way.  
  
He gritted his teeth, and slashed with his sword, only to find it meet with metal. Surprised, he noticed that the girl held a sword in her hands as well.  
  
"You will die a cold and lonely man. You know it, so why don't you change it? You can!" She spoke forcefully to him. He shook his head, unable to speak. "Yes, you can!  
  
Look for the good in others, not the bad!  
  
Stop punishing others for their sins! That is the job of God, not you! All you have to do is worry about your own sins!  
  
Stop killing others for something that in the end will kill you!" At these words, his hands dropped, and her sword, meeting no more resistance, went forward.  
  
  
  
"Where am I?" Shinri asked, feeling pain in his right arm and something soft underneath him.  
  
"Good morning," came a voice from above him. His eyes shot open, and hovering above him was that beautiful face. She smiled. "Luckily I only hit your arm, and even that should be healed within a month. But I don't believe you'll ever be as good with a sword again." He blinked, confused.  
  
"You saved me? Why?"  
  
"You saved yourself by understanding what I was saying. You aren't a bad person. I know that. It's time you stopped acting like one, Kenshin." He frowned.  
  
"Kenshin?"  
  
"It's your new name. It means devotion." She smiled down at him. "You can start your life over." He smiled.  
  
"Yes. Yes, I can."  
  
  
  
Okay, so this isn't exactly fanfiction, it was a story I had to write for school and I used kenshin as my inspiration. It's not accurately based or anything, but I thought I might put it up just for the heck of it. The girl isn't Kaoru or Tomoe, she's more of a fusion between the two of them. Please review!!! Even if you hated it.  
  
I've also written half a dozen or so dbz stories, and I'm working on a yyh one...so check them out if you wanna!!!  
  
SaiyanLover 


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